Unrest Spreads to Morocco

Five people died as a result of looting that accompanied demonstrations demanding changes to the constitution in Morocco, the country’s interior minister said Monday, as the thousand year old North African monarchy became the latest government subject to demands for greater democracy that are sweeping the region.

The protests attracted 37,000 people around the country Sunday and were generally peaceful, Interior Minister M. Taieb Cherqaoui said at a press conference. He said looters had damaged more than 100 buildings, including a bank in the port town of Al Hoceima, where five people died in a fire. He also said 128 people were wounded, mostly police. It wasn’t possible to verify those figures independently Monday.

In Rabat, the capital, a crowd of as many as 10,000 people marched through the streets Sunday chanting: “Down with autocracy” and “The people want to change the constitution,” as well as slogans against the government, corruption and state television.